


Wrapping Paper

by lostinsnow



Category: Eyewitness (US TV)
Genre: Birthday, Explicit Language, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Sarcastic Philip, aka the best philip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 03:33:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8430232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostinsnow/pseuds/lostinsnow
Summary: When Philip embarrasses himself by rambling annoyingly to Lukas about photography he didn't expect it to lead to one of the best gifts he'd ever received.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Ugh I just started watching this show and I'm already obsessed! Y'all don't know how happy I am that shows are starting to have canon queer relationships, I remember the days when queerbaiting was all we had! Thank god that seems to be going away lmao
> 
> This is the first time I'm writing for this fandom, so go easy on me haha. Ngl this fic was kind of a mess, I hope I'll get better at writing for them. I hope you like it!
> 
> Are you a Russian reader? You can read this amazing translation by translator Regina on ficbook! https://ficbook.net/readfic/4897357

Philip sighed as he looked out the frosted window, watching rain pelt down on the dry ground outside. Even through the music playing in his headphones, he could still hear droplets falling on the tin roof heavily above his head.

 

He couldn’t help but miss the sound of rain hitting the lone small window in his room back in the city. It seemed like everything reminded him of home out here, and every time it made him want to go see his mom. The fact that he couldn’t broke him apart every time he remembered that doing so would only make this worse.

 

Another sigh fell from his lips, for the past few months it felt like his entire life was just a constant stream of sighs.

 

His attention went back to his phone, his foot absently shaking to the beat of the song he was listening to as he scrolled through one of the many photography blogs he followed.

 

While he’d most certainly lied to Lukas about liking motocross, sports were never his thing, he did enjoy cameras and photography. He was currently trying to save up money to buy a real camera, not the shitty one on his phone.

 

He’d given Tommy’s camera back to his parents. Even if he hadn’t, he never would have used it. The thought of wearing his own jacket still haunted him a week after Tommy’s death, let alone using the late boy’s camera.

 

Philip was broken out of his morbid thoughts by a flash of movement in front of him in the shape of a person. It was too early for Gabe to be home, and Helen was rarely home these days, so he knew either had to be Lukas or that guy that currently wanted him dead.

 

Luckily, when he looked up he was faced with bleach blonde hair and an awkward smile instead of a gun and a murderer.

 

He slowly pulled out his headphones, looking over Lukas and seeing that he was absolutely drenched in water from the turbulent weather.

 

“How did you get in?” Philip asked curiously, not moving from where he was lounged on the bed. The overcast weather made Lukas look even more pale in the dreary atmosphere of the room.

 

Lukas gestured behind his shoulder vaguely. “The door was unlocked and no one answered.” He mumbled, smiling slightly.

 

Philip snorted slightly. “So you just walked in?”

 

“Your bike was outside, I figured you were inside.” Lukas shrugged, looking around the room curiously. “Nice room.”

 

Philip also shrugged, “It’s alright, I guess. My room back home is a lot better, all of my stuff is still there.” He explained.

 

Lukas looked back at him, biting his lip lightly. “Do you miss it there?” He asked hesitantly.

 

“In some ways, yes.” Philip answered vaguely before tossing his phone on to the bed and standing up. “Do you want a towel?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

It took Philip a few minutes to find where the towels actually were, finding them in an actual closet specifically for towels instead of just thrown around the house like he was used to. Once he finally found the towels, they ended up sitting side by side on Philip’s bed with Lukas’ shoulders covered with a clean white towel, the air around them tense.

 

Eventually, Lukas broke the silence with what seemed to be the only thing he could ask lately. “Have you told anyone?”

 

Philip stared blankly at the wall in front of him. He should have known that was what the other boy came here for. “About what? Witnessing a triple homicide or us kissing?” He asked indifferently.

 

He’d been with guys like Lukas before, he knew their whole song and dance. They didn’t care about him, or the relationship, or anything. All they cared about was fucking every once and awhile until he became too much of a liability and then they left his life forever. They were all selfish, and assholes, and completely bad for him, but evidently he never stopped falling into their trap. It seemed bad people stuck to him like he was some sort of magnet.

 

Surprisingly, Lukas broke the record for how long guys like him stuck around. Knowing Philip’s luck, he would be gone within the week.

 

“The second one.” Lukas answered belatedly, sliding the towel off his shoulders and on to the floor. “No one can know, okay? N-No one can find out. My dad would kill me. Rose would hate me. The entire school would-“

 

“Okay, Lukas, I get it.” Philip cut him off tiredly, holding up a hand to him in a plea to stop.

 

Lukas frowned at him. “No, I don’t think you do. I’m not like you.”

 

Philip snorted, “That’s rich coming from you, considering you’re the one that always comes running back for more. If you’re so straight, why don’t you go to your _girlfriend_ when you want your cock sucked?” He asked bitterly, getting up from the bed. He didn’t know where he was going, it was raining outside and this was his room.

 

Lukas immediately got up from the bed, walking around it to stand in front of him. “You’re not going to tell her, are you?” He asked in a panic, his hands gripping Philip’s forearms tightly.

 

Philip shrugged his arms off roughly. “No, I’m not. Surprisingly, my entire life doesn’t revolve around plotting to force you out of the closet.”

 

Lukas stared at him for a moment before slowly nodding, seeming to have broken out of his panicked state. “Okay.” He muttered. “Okay.” He breathed again, looking back up at Philip. “I’m sorry for freaking out.” He murmured, cold hands holding one of Philip’s loosely.

 

Philip didn’t have the strength to shake him off again. “Don’t worry about it.” He rubbed Lukas’ arm comfortingly, hoping the other wouldn’t freak out on him again, at least during this visit. He could only handle so many tantrums in one sitting.

 

They both sat down on the edge of his bed, staring quietly around the room as the rain continued to drone on above their heads. Philip’s thumbs ran together idly, feeling awkward in his own home. Well, his own temporary home.

 

“What were you doing?” Lukas asked quietly, droplets of water still falling from the tips of his hair on to his shoulders.

 

Philip glanced over at him curiously. “What?”

 

“Before you knew I was here? What were you doing on your phone?” Lukas elaborated. “If you were looking at porn you’ve gotta share it, it’s the bro code.”

 

Philip snorted, pushing the other’s boy’s shoulder lightly. “Shut up, I was not. And what kind of weird ass bro code are you under that you show your friends porn?”

 

“The code that every guy is under!”

 

Philip shook his head with a smile. Every single day he was reminded of how fucking weird straight boys were, and Lukas was no exception.

 

“You would laugh at me if I told you.” Philip mumbled quietly, shifting his phone in between his hands.

 

“No I wouldn’t.” Lukas told him, his voice surprisingly gentle. When Philip looked up, he was nearly floored with a look that could almost be considered fond. Almost, if it wasn’t Lukas he was talking about.

 

Against his better judgment, Philip decided to trust Lukas. He unlocked his phone, opening the last blog he’d been scrolling through. “I was just looking at pictures, and stuff… These ones are all based off of understanding humans through nature, like studying the way we view nature. It’s this study being done in Manhattan, the photographer is really good.” Philip realized that he was doing that stupid passionate rambling thing, and promptly turned off his phone so that he would stop. “I don’t know, it’s stupid.” He mumbled, scratching at the back of his neck.

 

The room was silent bar the noise of rain. Philip was reminded of how awkward he felt after Lukas rejected him that first night. Suddenly his phone was being slid out of his hand. When he looked over, Lukas had opened the phone again and was looking at the pictures.

 

“No, it’s… It’s cool. The pictures are really.. pretty, I guess.” Lukas said in the hopes of making him feel better. “This one looks pretty cool, really bright and stuff.”

 

Philip scoffed in amusement, pulling the phone out of the other’s hand slowly. “Just because I feigned interest in your hobbies doesn’t mean you have to feign interest for mine.”

 

Lukas shook his head quickly. “I’m not feigning interest.” He insisted. “Okay, I don’t really the get the pictures. They just look like grass and cement to me. I’m not really that artistic, if you couldn’t tell.” Lukas explained, smiling softly. “But they’re interesting because you find them interesting. I never knew you liked photography.”

 

Lukas must have been really dense to not notice that he liked cameras and photography, but he didn’t comment on it. “Yeah… I’ve wanted a real camera for a while so I could take real pictures, but I’ve never really been able to afford it.” He shrugged, thumb rubbing against the low quality camera on the back of his phone.

 

“Why don’t you just ask Gabe and Helen to buy it for you? I’m sure they would, ever since you came here they’ve been overcompensating to get you to like them.” Lukas suggested with a wide grin.

 

Philip smiled, but shook his head at the idea. “I couldn’t do that. They’ve been so nice to me, at least in their own weird way. I’ll just work my ass off and get it on my own.”

 

“You don’t have the money to buy it?”

 

This was one of the many times when Philip was reminded of how different they were. Lukas had been raised wealthy since birth, his family had been plentiful farmers since the eighteenth century. He couldn’t help but be completely perplexed by the idea of poverty.

 

Sometimes, Philip couldn’t help but feel like city trash next to the small town good boy that Lukas had been before he showed up. It probably would have been for the best if he never talked to Lukas in the first place, then he wouldn’t have ended up seeing that murder and he wouldn’t be in such a complicated relationship, if it could even be called that.

 

Shaking his mind of those thoughts, Philip turned to look back at Lukas. “No, surprisingly, I don’t.” He muttered, laughing emptily.

 

Lukas hummed quietly at that, but didn’t say anything more on the matter. They sat quietly for another few minutes before there was the sound of a car door shutting outside. When Philip stood up and glanced outside the window, he saw the Sherriff car outside and Helen walking up to the porch.

 

“Shit, I’ve gotta go.” Lukas muttered, standing up quickly.

 

Unsurprised by the other’s flaky behavior, Philip simply nodded and waited to see him walk out. He was pleasantly surprised by Lukas’ still damp hands grasped the sides of his face and pulled him forward for a quick kiss.

 

Philip enjoyed the feeling of warm lips against his own for as long as possible, glancing up at Lukas questioningly when he pulled away.

 

“I’ll see you later. Okay?” Lukas whispered softly. When Philip nodded wordlessly, he pulled away and walked out of the room. Just as he was walking down the stairs, Helen was walking up.

 

She stood in the door of Philip’s room, throwing him a strange look. “What was he doing here?” She asked suspiciously, wary of what could happen after the last two events between the two boys. Philip didn’t have any bruises and her house was still undamaged, so everything looked okay so far.

 

Philip shrugged, sitting down on his bed. “I don’t know. Asking about math homework.” He lied.

 

“Don’t you kids have phones for that kind of thing?” Helen asked, even more suspicious. When Philip just shrugged and looked down at the floor insistently she reluctantly gave up, walking away from the room silently and leaving her foster son alone.

 

 

With the crime investigation slowly dwindling due to lack of evidence, a month passed by in which the excitement of the crime died down in the small town of Tivoli. With this, Lukas and Philip slowly became less and less anxious of getting caught every day. While this development was great, Philip couldn’t help but be bitter.

 

He quickly ran out of excuses to see Lukas when the questioning for the crime stopped, and therefore saw him less and less. In school, Lukas didn’t even look at him and whenever Philip tried to text him he very rarely got a polysyllabic response.

 

Gradually the New York weather got colder and colder and the new year began, bathing their town in a fresh blanket of snow on the morning of January 13th. Otherwise known as Philip’s birthday.

 

His birthday began with Helen and Gabe waking him up at the ass crack of dawn with his ‘birthday breakfast’, and while he was thankful that they cared, he’d never been a morning person. It didn’t help that he was a bit upset he was still stuck with them.

 

Luckily, he did get to visit his mom on his birthday. Later in the day, when he wasn’t a zombie anymore, he rode his bike to the rehab center she’d been shacked up at in the heart of Manhattan.

 

While he hadn’t appreciated the guards positioned around the room and the other people in the large room visiting patients, he was inexplicably glad to see her. She’d been getting better gradually with the rehabilitation, and there was hope of her being released soon. He just wanted to see his mom again, outside of white walls.

 

Surprisingly, she had been able to get him a gift. She handed him a small rectangular object wrapped in newspaper, his name written on top in a shaky scrawl. When he tore the paper open, he found a small picture frame with a bright print inside, a sharpie signature in the corner of the photograph.

 

“You know that guy that takes pictures that you like? His son is one of my friends here. I got his dad to bring in one of the pictures, I thought you’d like it.” She gushed, obviously proud that she’d gotten something her son would like.

 

Staring in shock down at the gift, Philip couldn’t even conceive what his mother had done to get this for him. Realistically, it probably didn’t take that much. The photographer was obscure and was probably just glad to hear someone knew his name, but it meant the world to Philip all the same.

 

While technically it was against the rules to touch the patient while he was visiting, when Philip leaned across the table to pull his mom into a near bone crushing hug the security guard had the good graces to turn a blind eye to the affair.

 

 

Later that night, after returning from the city, Philip sat around the table with Helen and Gabe as they tried their very best to give him a happy birthday. This was already the best birthday in awhile after his trip to see his mother, but he still appreciated their efforts.

 

They bought Chinese take-out, even after Helen had begged for him to let her cook something, and a small chocolate cake. Secretly, Philip preferred vanilla, but he didn’t want to rain on their parade by telling him that.

 

They asked him about his week at school, and he replied that it was ‘fine’ as always. They handed him two boxes wrapped in proper wrapping paper after dinner, wishing another happy birthday for what felt like the millionth time in one day.

 

While they didn’t know the niches of his interests, Philip could tell they’d really tried to get him things they thought he’d like. In the larger box, he found a new leather jacket similar to his old one but with black leather and new patches. He might actually wear this one, since it didn’t have the guilt the other jacket carried around.

 

 The second gift was a book, one of the new paperback bestsellers that were on all the kiosks in the city. He could tell it had been Helen’s choice, and while he knew that it would be nothing more than a paperweight and a desk collector, he still thanked them with a big smile. He appreciated them caring about him, even if it was misguided at times.

 

After declining their offer to watch a movie several times he finally found his way upstairs, setting the three gifts he’d received on his bed and smiling down at them appreciatively. In the past years, he was lucky to get one gift on his birthday, let alone three. He felt spoiled for once in his life.

 

With nothing left to do but homework, and the thought of that made a shiver run down his back, Philip eventually fell asleep with a pleased smile on his face.

 

He only woke to a small noise outside his room. As he was waking the sound became more insistent until it progressed to a quiet banging and the sound of a scuffle just outside.

 

When he was finally awake enough to pull himself out of bed he stumbled over to the window, opening his eyes blearily to find blonde hair and blue eyes looking at him in a panic.

 

“What the hell?” Philip asked quietly, walking over to the window in confusion. His room was on the second floor and there was nothing under the window, how the hell had Lukas even gotten up to the window?

 

When he opened the window Lukas pushed himself in quickly, falling on to the floor ungracefully and dropping whatever he’d brought with him on the ground.

 

“Shit.” Lukas cursed quietly, picking the item up carefully. In the darkness of his room, Philip couldn’t tell what it was.

 

“How did you even get up here?” Philip asked curiously, helping him up from the ground. Lukas felt freezing despite the heavy coat he was wearing, and the snow on his shoes had trailed along the carpet.

 

“Painfully. I fell down three times.” Lukas grumbled, brushing snow off his coat on the floor.

 

Philip couldn’t help but laugh at the image of Lukas trying to scale the side of the house only to fall back to the cold snow. “Are you okay?” He asked through his giggles.

 

Even in the darkness of the room, Philip could see the other’s glare. “I was fine, until you injured my pride.” He muttered with a pout.

 

Philip could only laugh more, rubbing the other’s arm lightly. “I’m sorry, I’m sure it was a very painful experience for you. I should have more sympathy, huh?” He asked with a grin.

 

Lukas nodded. “I didn’t come all this way to have my dignity shattered.”

 

“Why did you come all this way, then?” Philip asked curiously, helping Lukas out of his coat. When he took the coat off, Philip was glad to see that he at least wasn’t the only one in his pajamas.

 

“It’s your birthday, right? I mean, technically it’s the fourteenth now, but it still counts, right?”

 

Laughing warmly, Philip nodded at the question. “I suppose so.” He answered. “It’s just… You haven’t been around in awhile, I… I was afraid that you hated me.” He admitted, scratching at his neck nervously.

 

Lukas looked down at him awkwardly, his expression clearly displaying guilt. “Yeah, I… I don’t really have an excuse for that. It’s just my dad has been making me work a lot more, and I’ve been busy with school, and-“

 

Philip abruptly ended Lukas’ nervous rambling by leaning up to kiss him gently, effectively shutting him up. Slowly he pulled away, missing the feeling of the other’s cold lips already. “It’s okay. You’re here now, that’s all that matters, right?”

 

Lukas’ grin was visible in the moonlight streaming through the window, his happiness seeming to illuminate the dark room immediately. When Lukas was happy, it was like all the darkness in the world disappeared. At least, that was how it felt for Philip.

 

“I brought you something, too.” Lukas told him, shoving forward the object he’d been carrying with him. “I-I hope it isn’t broken since I dropped it so much falling down. And I h-hope it’s the right one, I looked all over the internet so I wouldn’t get some shitty thing.” Lukas rambled nervously as he had the habit of doing.

 

Philip had to turn on the light by the bed to properly see what the box in his hands was, immediately blown away at what Lukas had brought him.

 

Lying in his hands was an unwrapped, snow covered box with a picture of one of the market’s best cameras imprinted on the front. He considered dropping the box, knowing he wasn’t worthy to hold something so expensive.

 

“Lukas… I can’t take this.” He muttered, holding it back out at him.

 

Immediately, the big grin on the other’s face fell into a hurt frown. “Why not?”

 

“It’s too much, you should return this. I can’t accept something so expensive, especially out of pity.” Philip explained.

 

“Pity? Are you an idiot?” Lukas responded, his voice raising dangerously high with Helen and Gabe asleep right next door. “Dude, it’s your birthday. I’m giving it to you as a birthday gift, and to apologize for not being around. Trust me, I don’t pity you.”

 

The idea that Lukas didn’t pity him despite their drastic differences was almost a better gift than the camera. Almost. “You’re sure I can keep this?” He asked slowly, looking back down at the box.

 

Lukas nodded, “God knows I wouldn’t do anything good with it. I’d probably just take out of focus pictures of my bike.”

 

Philip chuckled, sitting down on the edge of the bed and opening the box eagerly. He couldn’t deny it, he was excited to handle something so fine. For once, he wouldn’t mind own something bougie.

 

As Lukas sat down next to him on the bed, he pulled the camera out and marveled at the item. He couldn’t imagine how long it would have taken him to be able to buy this himself. While he wasn’t big on depending on others financially, it did feel nice to receive such a grand gift. Even if it was just so that he would forgive Lukas.

 

“Do you like it?” Lukas asked quietly, biting his lip as his hands kneaded together.

 

Philip turned on the camera, looking down in awe as it started up. “I love it.” He murmured in response. “Thank you so much.” As the camera interface started up he found himself eager to take a million pictures just to make it worthy. Unfortunately, he was stuck in his room at one in the morning in January.

 

This made the choice for the subject of his very first proper picture easy. He held the camera up to his eye, pressing his finger down to take the very first picture.

 

“What did you take a picture of?” Lukas asked curiously, looking over after hearing the shutter sound.

 

“See for yourself.” Philip muttered, holding the camera to him so he could see the screen. On the small screen there displayed a picture of incredible quality, but the actual photo was what made it special.

 

Dressed in pajamas and completed with messy hair, Lukas’ profile was captured perfectly. Bags protruded from his eyes after staying up to come to Philip’s house, his shoulders were slouched in the way that all teenage boys’ were, his hair was damp from melted snow.

 

The picture was bathed in a picturesque, romantic yellow glow from the lamp, the edges of the photo naturally dark. The background was blurry, making Lukas stand out easily in the photo.

 

“What is this?” Lukas asked quietly.

 

“The first picture I took of you. The first of many." Philip answered with a smile, setting the camera down gently before leaning forward to press their lips together sweetly.

 

It was officially the best birthday he’d ever had, even if it technically was the fourteenth.

 

When Lukas pressed him back against the bed with a warm chuckle and a deep kiss Philip decided that he couldn’t care less what day it was.

**Author's Note:**

> I love love love comments so tell me what you thought! Also I didn't know the exact date of Philip's birthday so I just picked a random day in January lmao
> 
> Also I want to keep writing for eyewitness but I don't have any ideas rn. If you have anything you want to be written, feel free to tell me!!


End file.
